1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for cutting poultry, in particular, chicken, into parts; and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for regrouping into one container for packaging in one package the individual parts which comprise one chicken.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various methods and apparatus for cutting chicken into individual parts for use by food stores, restaurants, fast food carryouts, or other purveyors of chicken, have been used in the past. In these prior systems, the chicken is cut transversely in half to form a front half and rear half, the front half including the wings and breasts, and the rear half including the legs and thighs. The front half is then cut into pieces or sections by cutting the wings and, thereafter, splitting the breast section longitudinally in half to provide two breast pieces. In other systems the front half may be sectioned into five pieces by first removing the lower portion of the breast area, known in the trade as the keel, then removing the wings, and finally longitudinally splitting the remaining portion of the breast into two rib pieces.
The rear half of the chicken is split into pieces by first cutting the legs from the thighs and then longitudinally splitting the two thighs to provide four pieces of chicken. In these prior cutting devices, the severed pieces normally, after being severed, drop to a chute and slide into a container containing the individual pieces. That is, a container will include all legs, another container will include all thighs, and so forth.
Certain customers of a chicken processing plant, however, desire to receive the cut chicken pieces in packages containing the individual parts of one chicken. That is, an individual package will contain, in the case of a nine-piece cut, two thighs, two legs, two wings, two rib sections and a keel section. None of the prior art of which we are aware has provided a method and apparatus for sectioning chicken and regrouping the pieces in containers containing the individual parts of one chicken. In the prior art, this regrouping has had to be accomplished by manual labor, which of course is more expensive than if done automatically.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved method and apparatus for cutting poultry, in particular chickens, into individual pieces and regrouping these pieces into individual containers after severing, each of which contains the severed parts of one chicken. Additionally, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved method and apparatus for cutting poultry into individual pieces and package them into individual containers containing the parts of one chicken without the use of manual labor to place the individual severed parts of the chicken into the package.
These and other objectives are obtained by the methods, steps, procedures, parts, constructions, combinations and subcombinations which comprise the present invention, the preferred embodiment of which is set forth and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and which is particularly pointed out and set forth in the appended claims.